Richard Osman’s House of Games (BBC2, 6pm)
SORT of a neat midway point between Pointless’s good-natured quiz show format and Taskmaster’s chaotic abandon, House of Games has proved a big hit. The first series ran for just 15 episodes, expanding each time until we’re now promised a 100-long fourth season – that’s 20 weeks. The first week’s competitive quartet are presenter and wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan, A Place in the Sun’s Jean Johansson, comic actor Stephen Mangan and composer-comedian Vikki Stone.
Rob Burrow: My Year with MND (BBC2, 7pm)
IN December last year, just two years after retiring from the game he loved, rugby league star Rob Burrow announced he had motor neurone disease. In a moving documentary, Burrow describes the toll the condition is taking on him, his determination to live as normal a life as possible, and how lessons learned during his career have prepared him for what lies ahead. Friends, family and former colleagues also offer their views.
Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC1, 9pm)
FILMING restrictions meant only four episodes have been made for this new series; thankfully, they’re all rather fascinating. David Walliams learns the tragic facts about a relative during the First World War, while former Silent Witness star Liz Carr uncovers the story of an ancestor’s role in an attempted murder. Ruth Jones, of Gavin and Stacey fame, finds out about the part her grandfather played in a forerunner to the NHS. But first, Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker hears some uncomfortable truths about her great-great-grandfather.
Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today (BBC4, 9pm-10.30pm)
IN the 1960s, the BBC produced The Wednesday Play, a series of one-off dramas. In 1970, it became Play for Today. Like its predecessor, which included Cathy Come Home among other groundbreaking programmes, it featured landmark works by up-and-coming writers and directors who would become titans of the industry, such as Mike Leigh, Dennis Potter, David Hare and Ken Loach. This documentary looks back at key moments and the reasons for the demise of the series in 1984.
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